What if a stargate was discovered on the sea floor?

[Tom Kalbfus]

What do you think?

For me, Stargates bring up too many images of Goa'uld System Lords. But if someone can get over the whole Stargate series then I think given enough info before the players start play, it could be a fun time around the old RPG table.

Now to your other question, yes I understand the rules vs setting issue. But I think your setting would be better served by a different set of rules. To be honest, if I were setting this in the 1800's or very early 1900s and adding in sci-fi elements I might be tempted to use Space 1899. Covers the type of characters and setting elements you have described. If you go for a later date then Space 1899 might not be a good choice.

I think you mean Space 1889. If we set it in the 1800s, then we would get similar types of characters, but no aether propellers, the physics is the same as modern physics, its just that the 19th century characters don't understand it yet. Characters can't get off the planet until they develop modern rocketry, since there is only one stargate leading to Mars, only one Earth power dominates it rather than there being a competition between powers as in Space 1889. The British Empire and Imperial Germany are on the sidelines in this one, but we do see an expansion of the American West onto Mars, and the Martians are not as helpless as the American Indians were during the Westward expansion. There is after all a lot more of Mars than of the American west, there are even some native Martian Kingdoms on other parts of the planet. With the arrival of the Settlers and the US Army to protect them, at first the Natives are blown away by that superior technology, they are pushed back, shoves aside and put on reservations, but there is a lot of Mars left after the Americans have done that, and only so many settlers coming through the gate. There are places on Mars where the natives can retreat to, and they have their own primitive cities elsewhere, typically they have bronze age technology, they have a form of writing, they have draft animals, giant elephants and horses, which the Indians didn't have when they first encountered European colonists. There are many different Martian tribes and kingdoms. The American government only lays claim to a certain amount of territory around the gate, centered around that giant canyon system. The Natives push back in many cases and continue to do so into the 20th century. A planet is no trivial thing to conquer after all. The Ancient Martian technology is no longer functional, the elements have done them in on Mars, although there maybe more functional examples of it in space, particularly on Phobos, which is the nearest low hanging fruit, if Werner Von Braun can send his rockets there. Once there, he can get his hands on some futuristic rayguns, maybe even discover another stargate, maybe even one leading to the Third Imperium this time. The Third Imperium has all sorts of techno-gadgets, but the main problem for the American government is that it also has the Third Imperium, and the Americans have 1950s technology! If the Third Imperium ever discoveres this stargate they discovered, that could mean Big Trouble! As if they didn't already have enough trouble with the Native Martian tribes and kingdoms!

 

[alex_greene]

The problem is: this is science fiction, sure. But is it the Far Future?

If this is a world where we still post to tumblr and we have television, and there are Dodge pickups and Chryslers on the roads, and we're shuttling between 2016 Pittsburgh and Barsoom, it is not the Far Future.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

The problem is: this is science fiction, sure. But is it the Far Future?

If this is a world where we still post to tumblr and we have television, and there are Dodge pickups and Chryslers on the roads, and we're shuttling between 2016 Pittsburgh and Barsoom, it is not the Far Future.

A stargate campaign can be very flexible, all you need is one extra stargate, lets say its on Phobos for example, the years is 1957 on Earth, On Mars its 30,000+ years later than that, the first wormhole connects those different points in time. Von Braun and his team of astronauts send some vintage 1950s rockets into space from Mars. The PCs are on one of Von Braun's rockets, they make a rendezvous with Phobos and an installation is discovered there, and a stargate. In their spacesuits they step through the gate, and find themselves on a moon orbiting Neptune, they are still in the Solar System, but far in the past, there is a spaceship on this Moon, a team of prospectors, the ship is a seeker, a modified Scout/courier, this is the classic traveler era, the belters are Solomani sympathizers, and native Terrans in the Imperium occupied Solar System in the year 1103 Imperial. The PCs and other NPC astronauts make contact with the belters, the Belters find some lucrative prospects in this contact, including the stargate to a future Solar System, and contact with Earth's past, this provides some possible resources for Terran independence, and guess what? Some of the astronauts on Von Braun's team are actually Soviet Spies. Now imagine what access to TL 15 weapons would do to the balance of power in the Cold War back in the 1950s. One of the reasons the Soviets have planted spies on one of Von Braun's teams was out of fear that just such a thing might happen, up to now, operative futuristic technology was not uncovered, except for the stargates themselves, but now, these Belter rebels represent a threat to "Mother Russia", should their technology fall into the hands of the American government! his is a pretty fractured situation, don't you think? How many sides are there to this situation, there is the Americans, The Soviets, the Solomani, and he 3rd Imperium that is trying to maintain its hold onto the Terran System. How do you think things would develop from here? Any guesses? The Soviet Spies obviously want to do something to stop this, they are a bit conflicted, they are no fanatical enough to kill themselves, they might want to bring some of this technology to Moscow, at some point they might betray Von Braun's team and the PCs. What do you think would happen? Lets add to that, on the Belter's side one is an Agent of the Third Imperium, who's job it is to monitor these rebel's activities and report back to headquarters, their job was strictly information gathering while pretending to be on the rebel's side, and then this happens. What do you think the Imperium would do when they find out about this?

 

[alex_greene]

What do you think the Imperium would do when they find out about this?

Nothing, if the referee doesn't use the setting.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

What do you think the Imperium would do when they find out about this?

Nothing, if the referee doesn't use the setting.

Everything is optional of course.

 

[-Daniel-]

Everything is optional of course.

Thus why no two games are the same. Even with a shared setting different tables have their own unique feel.

 

[Rick]

Except that the main feel of Traveller involves getting the details consistent. I still maintain that you are 'hand-waving' the problems of getting through the gate far too much - Hunley and Turtle are non-starters as useable, reliable submarines - they were designed to operate just below the surface and the only time they went deeper was when they sank (several times in Hunley's case - highly unreliable). Even the French Pingeur submarine could only dive to 10m (30ft) and the depth of water where you have placed the stargate is about 40m (120ft), SCUBA is out of the question for some years (100-ish?), as are most of the underwater breathing systems used during WW2 - deep sea divers could probably do it, but the depth of water on the Martian side would be about 3 times the depth on the Earth side (even though the pressure would be the same), making coffer dams impossible (even if you could transport everything needed through to the Martian side, a 400ft deep coffer dam could not be constructed with 19th century technologies).

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Except that the main feel of Traveller involves getting the details consistent. I still maintain that you are 'hand-waving' the problems of getting through the gate far too much - Hunley and Turtle are non-starters as useable, reliable submarines - they were designed to operate just below the surface and the only time they went deeper was when they sank (several times in Hunley's case - highly unreliable). Even the French Pingeur submarine could only dive to 10m (30ft) and the depth of water where you have placed the stargate is about 40m (120ft), SCUBA is out of the question for some years (100-ish?), as are most of the underwater breathing systems used during WW2 - deep sea divers could probably do it, but the depth of water on the Martian side would be about 3 times the depth on the Earth side (even though the pressure would be the same), making coffer dams impossible (even if you could transport everything needed through to the Martian side, a 400ft deep coffer dam could not be constructed with 19th century technologies).

There's a simple way, you drop a hook into it with a chain attached, the other end of the chain is attached to a ship, the ship then drags the stargate to shallower waters, you then transfer the other end of the chain to land, and using a steam engine you pull the stargate onto dry land. At which point it will probably by gushing water from Mars. What you could do then is push a balloon through the stargate with lines attached to the framework, while leaving the air opening on the Earthside of the stargate, then you inflate the balloon full of air using a steam powered airpump, the balloon on the Mars side inflates and its buoyancy lifts the stargate up to the surface on the Mars side. The water then gushes out less. Have a swimmer pull himself through the stargate with a rope, and he climbs to the top of the balloon on the Mars side, the stargate is then dangling on the underside of the balloon. Then you just need to get row boat on the other side, and you row it towards the nearest shore. You probably need to do some scouting to find out in what direction land is. Probably the Earthside of the Stargate should be left in shallow water to equalize the pressure, and divers and just swim through and surface on the Mars side. With Ballast a number of sail boat hulls could be sent to Mars, once there the ballast is dumped the sail boats are refloated, and the boats tow th stargate to shore. And finally both ends of the stargate are dragged onto dry land so the stargate can be used without having to swim.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

I just got a better idea. Lets suppose the Mars end of the stargate was at he bottom of a crater instead of in the Northern Ocean, the Earth end was in Long Island Sound as usually. 19th century ships hook the stargate with an anchor, and they drag it to shallower waters, as the stargate ascends the water pressure on the Mars side is greater and Mars water gushes into the Long Island Sound. The stargate gas four faces, one of which points to the bottom of the long island sound. Water gushes out in all directions including down, this lifts the stargate off the sea floor and makes towing it by ship, that much easier. At the Mars end of the stargate, water is draining from the crater into the stargate, the water level slowly goes down. The ships drag the thing onto the shore and watch the water gush out. Eventually the crater lake on the other side drains through the stargate and both ends end up on dry land, and not the stargate can be used for two way travel without submarines or diving gear.

 

[Rick]

I just got a better idea. Lets suppose the Mars end of the stargate was at he bottom of a crater instead of in the Northern Ocean, the Earth end was in Long Island Sound as usually. 19th century ships hook the stargate with an anchor, and they drag it to shallower waters, as the stargate ascends the water pressure on the Mars side is greater and Mars water gushes into the Long Island Sound. The stargate gas four faces, one of which points to the bottom of the long island sound. Water gushes out in all directions including down, this lifts the stargate off the sea floor and makes towing it by ship, that much easier. At the Mars end of the stargate, water is draining from the crater into the stargate, the water level slowly goes down. The ships drag the thing onto the shore and watch the water gush out. Eventually the crater lake on the other side drains through the stargate and both ends end up on dry land, and not the stargate can be used for two way travel without submarines or diving gear.

Ok. I think that is a much better idea.